How the NBA is Making Waves in eSports

The National Basketball Association has just turned 73 years old and is one of the four major leagues for professional level sports in North America. Thanks to this age and prominence, it is often considered the world’s leading basketball league, with good reason. Whilst comprising of teams only from the United States and Canada, the NBA attracts many international players who join from every continent. In addition, the average NBA team is worth $1.9 billion, considerably more than teams in other leagues.

Expanding the Empire

The NBA is currently enacting a strategy to leverage its brand around the world, developing audiences in regions outside of the United States including the UK, Africa and China. As part of this it recently announced the launch of a NBA YouTube channel to stream games to sub-Saharan audiences. Next to this the NBA 2K League and YouTube announced that YouTube will stream live broadcasts of NBA 2K League games and distribute highlights on the official NBA 2K League YouTube Channel throughout the second season of the 21-team league.

YouTube will livestream all NBA 2K League games this season, including more than 230 regular-season, tournament and NBA 2K League Playoff and Finals games combined. All regular-season games take place at the NBA 2K League Studio Powered by Intel in Long Island City, N.Y.

The eSports Expansion

In 2017, the NBA and games developer Take-Two Interactive announced that 17 of the 30 NBA teams would be taking part in the inaugural NBA 2K eSports League. This list included big names like the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors. The first of these eSports games took place in 2018, using the NBA 2K video games. Like real life games, NBA 2K eSports League games are contested between two teams of 5 players, making use of the “Pro-Am” mode found in the consumer version of NBA 2K 2018.

Just like in real life basketball, the eSports teams are generally made up of the following types of player:

Point guard: generally taking the on court leadership role for the team, typically having the best ball handling and passing skills to assist in creating shots

Shooting guard: typically the best shooter on the team, tasked with exploiting these skills, particularly when shooting from behind the three-point line

Small forward: often considered the most versatile position of the five, the small forward often takes on the role of the shooting guard, but is more likely to score baskets from lay-ups or slam dunks in contrast to the shooting guard’s three-point shooting abilities

Power forward: a versatile role, similar to the centre, which requires shooting and defence skills against all types of players

In the real world, the NBA Championship will be decided between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors in mid June. Currently, odds comparison site Oddschecker is ranking the Raptors as favourites to take the crown. However, the NBA 2K eSports season begins in spring and finishes in summer. This timing allows the NBA to have its brand utilised for a larger portion of the year, beyond the end of the traditional basketball season.

eSports has become a multi million dollar industry. Photo by Anthony Brolin, License

First Mover Advantage

The NBA’s announcement in 2017 that it would be launching the NBA 2K eSports League meant that it was the first major sports brand in the United States to enter the world of eSports. In contrast, most other eSports leagues are organised by tech companies like Intel – or games companies like Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite. Therefore, if the NBA is successful it will have several years of development to build a loyal eSports fan base, before rivals such as the National Football League or Major League Baseball join the party.

Growing Already

After a successful first year, four additional real life NBA teams will be joining the NBA 2K eSports League lineup, bringing the total number to 21. These new teams are: the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.The growth provides mutual benefits, since the teams will bring with them their own existing supporters who are more likely to follow their team’s eSports team, than an unknown entrant. In addition, the fans of eSports are likely to also gain a stronger interest in the real life team, buying merchandise and visiting games.

Live Streaming

Just as traditional sports leagues like the NBA have sold rights to air games on TV, the NBA 2K eSports League has signed a deal to have its games streamed live over the internet. The deal with streaming platform Twitch sees all games shown live, available to its audience of 15 million daily active users. The multi year streaming deal also includes commentary and analysis, just like you would expect from traditional TV coverage of any other sport.

The NBA 2K eSports deal is not Twitch’s first with the NBA. In December 2017, the two companies signed a deal that enabled Twitch to live stream games from the NBA G League, the official minor league, with up to 6 matches each week being distributed on the platform.

Sponsorship

Just like traditional sports leagues, the NBA 2K eSports League has signed a number of major sponsorship deals with large companies. Games are played on computers provided by gaming PC brand Alienware, using powerful processing chipsets supplied by Intel. Players use HyperX sponsored headsets and Scuf Gaming branded controllers. Teams also have their own sponsors, with their logos displayed on the teams’ in-game uniforms, just like in real life.

Conclusion

The growth in eSports has been massive, with large sums of money now being invested in creating leagues with all of the hallmarks of a traditional sport. In its quest to become a global sports brand, the NBA has been able to leverage its existing assets to create a large following in eSports, almost overnight. By launching the league in 2018 with 17 existing NBA teams, the NBA 2K eSports League already had loyal fans of 17 established sports clubs who would want to support them. Thus, it has a pre-made fanbase, huge financial assets and an established brand to leverage sponsorship deals and to use in negotiations when selling streaming rights.

In addition, the NBA’s venture into eSports is a significant opportunity to expand the reach of its brand into new geographic regions, as well as to new demographics that had not previously been interested in basketball. Even if a player does not become an avid watcher of NBA games, sales of the NBA 2K video game titles are also likely to benefit from the exposure of the NBA 2K eSports League.

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Global Esports Federation Announces Launch of New Commission

The Global Esports Federation has announced the formation of a Brand, Marketing, Commercial and Communication Commission to create opportunities within the community and propel esports to the forefront of global events and entertainment.

“Esports has emerged into the mainstream in recent years, evolving to hit the mainstage of entertainment globally. The whole of the Global Esports Federation and the global esports community are optimistic about its continued growth and expansion. We are excited to share our progress and new developments in esports,” Chris Chan, President of Global Esports Federation, said.

The Commission will be led by senior Italian football executive and GEF Board member Lorenzo Giorgetti. Throughout the year, the GEF celebrates the universality of global esports through the staging of regional, continental and international events.

“The Global Esports Federation convenes the stakeholders in the world’s dynamic esports community from different backgrounds, geographies and business models. I look forward to engaging with the world’s commercial brands – established and those emerging – and the market at large to bring tremendous value to the GEF and our worldwide properties,” Giorgetti said.

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Zwift Set to Launch Z PRO June Invitational

Global online training platform Zwift is set to launch Z PRO June Invitational. This is a four-week series where each rider chases general classification over four races during the month of June. Fans can tune in to watch pro triathletes race from June 10.

“The ZPRO Tri Race series has been a great success. I’m excited to see how the athletes take to the 4-week race series and which pro is best over such diverse terrain,” Eric Min, CEO and Co-Founder of Zwift, said.

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“The ZPRO Tri Race series has been a great outlet to get in some real racing. I’m really looking forward to the June Invitational, it will be hard racing but I’m excited to go up against the other women and leave it all out there on the bike,” Lucy Charles-Barclay said.

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LG Partners With Esports Pioneer ‘Evil Geniuses’

Raising the bar in competitive gaming and demonstrating innovation beyond boundaries, LG Electronics USA has launched a multi-faceted integrated marketing partnership with one of the original and most iconic esports organizations in the world – Evil Geniuses. The centerpiece of the partnership is LG UltraGear,™ which has been named the Official Gaming Monitor of Evil Geniuses.

LG UltraGear advanced monitors are well known to serious gamers for lightning speed, offering the world’s first 1 millisecond (ms) display combined with QHD Nano IPS technology for lifelike images with rich, natural colors and consistent contrast across a wide viewing angle. LG UltraGear monitors are fine-tuned to respond incredibly to the most demanding titles, helping lead gamers to victory.

Founded in 1999, Evil Geniuses (EG) has shaped the history of esports. EG is a leader in the worldwide competitive gaming community, maintaining elite globally and nationally ranked rosters across major game titles such as Dota 2, League of Legends and CS:GO as well as players competing at the highest level in various FGC games and Fortnite. The EG Dota 2 team is the most victorious in North American history, with 4 top three placements in world championships and the only North American team to win The International, while the EG CS:GO team are champions of the two biggest fall tournaments (2019 ESL One New York, 2019 StarSeries & i-league Season 8), and in their first LCS split, EG surged to 2nd in the regular season.

As the Official Gaming Monitor Partner of EG, LG UltraGear monitors will be installed and utilized throughout the competitive practice and streaming rooms at the EG training facilities in Seattle and Los Angeles. LG UltraGear gaming monitors will also be featured in the team’s digital content, and Evil Geniuses players will highlight key features of the monitors through exclusive online LG UltraGear streams. Further, LG is systematically matching their broad array of monitor products to uniquely fit the needs of Evil Geniuses’ day-to-day business across content development/editing, team operations and the EG business staff.

“This partnership with LG UltraGear is a testament to delivering ‘best-in-class’ across all aspects of our organization,” said Phil Aram, chief gaming officer of Evil Geniuses. “EG’s insatiable desire to outperform ourselves continually fuels us to be in top form competitively, and with LG UltraGear, we have a partner that’s hand-in-hand with us in sharing that mindset.”

As part of EG’s recently unveiled rebranding, the newly debuted crest and LG UltraGear logo were incorporated into the complete overhaul of the 2020 player jersey design. The new jersey celebrates individuality by incorporating details unique to each player, while standing out from the competition with bold design and intricate details.

“This is the perfect partnership of industry-leading gaming technology and world-class esports professionals,” said Michelle Fernandez, head of home entertainment marketing, LG Electronics USA. “Evil Geniuses features some of the most talented and accomplished esports competitors in the world. LG UltraGear delivers the performance the world’s top professionals and all serious gamers need to gain that edge and win.”

The partnership between the two companies is rooted in the shared belief and unquestioned pursuit for excellence which starts by using the best products, such as the LG UltraGear monitor. Neither company is bound by what is standard and strive to pursue what is right.

2020 LG UltraGear Gaming Monitor Lineup*

The 2020 LG UltraGear lineup features the largest lineup of gaming monitors with high performing features such as NVIDIA® G-SYNC® and AMD FreeSync.™ Debuting later this year, the 27-inch UltraGear 4K UHD monitor (model 27GN950) delivers a 1ms Nano IPS display with a refresh rate of 144Hz, over-clockable to 160Hz. This CES® 2020 Innovation Award Honoree offers hardware calibration to maximize the ability of LG’s IPS technology to realize precise color reproduction. For gamers looking for extra screen real-estate and more immersive gameplay, LG UltraGear models 34GN850 and 38GN950 feature large 1ms IPS displays and a 160Hz refresh rate.**

Specific events featuring LG UltraGear and Evil Geniuses will be announced at a later date. For more information on LG’s ultra-fast gaming monitors, visit https://www.lg.com/us/gaming-monitors.

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